Pessac (; ) is a commune in the

Gironde Gironde ( US usually, , ; oc, Gironda, ) is the largest department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of Southwestern France. Named after the Gironde estuary, a major waterway, its prefecture is Bordeaux. In 2019, it had a population of 1,6 ...

department in

Nouvelle-Aquitaine Nouvelle-Aquitaine (; oc, Nòva Aquitània or ; eu, Akitania Berria; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Novéle-Aguiéne'') is the largest administrative region in France, spanning the west and southwest of the mainland. The region was created by ...

in southwestern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. It is a member of the metropolis of Bordeaux, being the second-largest

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separ ...

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectu ...

and located just southwest of it. Pessac is also home to

Bordeaux Montaigne University Bordeaux Montaigne University (French: ''Université Bordeaux Montaigne''; formerly ''Université Michel de Montaigne Bordeaux 3'') is a public university in Pessac, France, approximately 8 kilometres (5 miles) southwest of the city centre of B ...

and the Institut d'études politiques de Bordeaux.

Geography

Pessac is located in the south of the Bordeaux metro area and is surrounded by

Talence Talence (, ; oc, Talança, ; ca, Talença, ) is a commune in the Gironde department, administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France. It is the third-largest suburb of the city of Bordeaux, and is adjacent to it on the south side. It is ...

Gradignan Gradignan (; oc-gsc, Gradinhan) is a commune in the Gironde department in southwestern France. It is a suburb of the city of Bordeaux and is located on its southwest side. Thus, it is a member of the Bordeaux Métropole. Population Educat ...

Canéjan Canéjan (; oc-gsc, Canejan) is a commune in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. Geography Canéjan is located 11.4 km southwest of Bordeaux. It is on the A63 autoroute, as well as the Route nationale 10 ...

Cestas Cestas (; oc-gsc, Cestàs) is a commune in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. Population Economy Cestas Solar Park was the biggest solar park in Europe when Neoen opened it in December 2015. See also *C ...

, Saint-Jean-d'Illac and Mérignac. The western part of the commune is part of the Landes de Bordeaux.

History

Early in World War II (June 22, 1940), the town was the scene of a quadruple execution on the firing range of Verthamon. Four communists militants, one of whom, Roger Rambaud, was not yet 17, were among the escapees from the military prison in Paris, were killed in the utmost secrecy by soldiers of the Third Republic. This case, classified "Secret Defense" for 70 years, has recently been revealed by the historian Jacky Tronel in the history magazine Arkheia.

Neighborhoods

Neighborhoods of Pessac : * Verthamon * Les échoppes * Brivazac - Candau * Noës * Pessac-bourg * Casino * Sardine * Chiquet * Compostelle - La Paillère * Le Monteil * CCLAPS - La Chataigneraie * Saige - Formanoir * 3 M (Macédo, Mirante, Monbalon) * France - L'Alouette * Cap de Bos * Magonty - Romainville * Toctoucau

Heritage

Wineries

Located on the Pessac-Léognan appellation, there are several wineries, including the oldest of the

Bordeaux wine regions The wine regions of Bordeaux are a large number of wine growing areas, differing widely in size and sometimes overlapping, which lie within the overarching wine region of Bordeaux, centred on the city of Bordeaux and covering the whole area of the ...

, château Haut-Brion. File:Haut Brion exterior.jpg, Château Haut-Brion File:Photographie Château les Carmes-Haut-Brion.jpg, Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion File:Si le vin manque, il manque tout 5.jpg, Château Pape Clément

Cité Frugès

Built by

Le Corbusier Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , , ), was a Swiss-French architect, designer, painter, urban planner, writer, and one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture. He was ...

in 1926, the district is an experimental housing for workers. This is one of the 17 architectural works of Le Corbusier listed as a

UNESCO World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

since 2016.

Casino district

Quarter built in the 1900s with a resort city architecture. File:Pessac - Girofla.jpg, Villa Girofla File:Pessac - Mimosa.jpg, Villa Mimosa File:Pessac - Villa Tour.jpg, Villa Tour File:Pessac - Booz.jpg, Villa Booz File:Pessac - Radieuse.jpg, Villa Radieuse

Others

File:Pessac - Mairie.jpg, Town hall File:Pessac - Église.jpg, Church of Saint Martin File:Pessac - Music.jpg, Music school File:Moulin de Noès.jpg, Moulin de Noès File:Pessac - Demeure.jpg, Castel du bourg, private house

Population

Education

9 Kindergartens 15 Grade schools 5 Middle schools *

Collège In France, secondary education is in two stages: * ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 15. * ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for children between ...

Alouette * Collège

François Mitterrand François Marie Adrien Maurice Mitterrand (26 October 19168 January 1996) was President of France, serving under that position from 1981 to 1995, the longest time in office in the history of France. As First Secretary of the Socialist Party, he ...

(Ladonne) * Collège

Gérard Philipe Gérard Philipe (born Gérard Albert Philip, 4 December 1922 – 25 November 1959) was a prominent French actor who appeared in 32 films between 1944 and 1959. Active in both theatre and cinema, he was, until his early death, one of the main ...

* Collège Pessac (Noès) * Collège Sainte-Jeanne d'Arc Assomption 3 High schools * : financed by the French government and the Communauté urbaine de Bordeaux (CUB), this school, presented as the high school of the year 2000, was inaugurated on 9 July 1987 by

Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, , ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a Politics of France, French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. Chirac was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to ...

, then

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

. Its initial capacity was 1,100 students including 900 "demi-pensionnaires". It was expanded in 1990 and now holds 1,260 students. * Lycée Sans Frontière * Lycée professionnel Philadelphe de Gerde

Transportation

Pessac has a railway station on the westbound line from Bordeaux, Gare de Pessac. Pessac is also served by the urban transport network of the Bordeaux agglomeration,

Transports Bordeaux Métropole Transports Bordeaux Métropole (or TBM, formerly Tram et bus de la CUB, or TBC) is a public transport system for the 28 ''communes'' of Bordeaux Métropole. It also provides service to part of the ''commune'' of Cadaujac Cadaujac () is a com ...

(TBM). Pessac is located on line B of the

Tramway de Bordeaux The Bordeaux tramway network (french: Tramway de Bordeaux) consists of four lines serving the city of Bordeaux in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. The system has a route length of , serving a total of 133 tram stops. The first line of ...

Personalities

* 1929:

Yvette Roudy Yvette Roudy (born 10 April 1929) is a French politician. She served as a member of the National Assembly from 1986 to 1993, and from 1997 to 2002, representing Calvados. She was the Minister of Women's Rights from 1981 to 1986. She sponsor ...

, socialist minister * 1938:

Jean Eustache Jean Eustache (; 30 November 1938 – 5 November 1981) was a French filmmaker. During his short career, he completed numerous short films, in addition to a pair of highly regarded features, of which the first, '' The Mother and the Whore'', is ...

, film actor and director (d. 1981) * 1953: Patrice Brun (historian) * 1971: Thierry Poulain-Rehm, university * 1979: ,

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the ...

player * 1980: (18 August) ,

matador A bullfighter (or matador) is a performer in the activity of bullfighting. ''Torero'' () or ''toureiro'' (), both from Latin ''taurarius'', are the Spanish and Portuguese words for bullfighter and describe all the performers in the activit ...

Twin towns - sister cities

Pessac is twinned with: *

Banfora Banfora is a city in south western Burkina Faso, with a population of 117,452 (2019 census) making it the sixth most populous city in Burkina Faso. It is the capital of the Comoe province. The city lies south-west of Bobo-Dioulasso, on the Abid ...

, Burkina Faso *

Burgos Burgos () is a city in Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the province of Burgos. Burgos is situated in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, on the confluence o ...

, Spain *

Galați Galați (, , ; also known by other alternative names) is the capital city of Galați County in the historical region of Western Moldavia, in eastern Romania. Galați is a port town on the Danube River. It has been the only port for the most pa ...

, Romania *

Göppingen Göppingen (Swabian: ''Geppenge'' or ''Gebbenga'') is a town in southern Germany, part of the Stuttgart Region of Baden-Württemberg. It is the capital of the district Göppingen. Göppingen is home to the toy company Märklin, and it is the bi ...

, Germany * Viana do Castelo, Portugal

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Communes of Gironde